Community Corner
Whoever? Whomever? .... Whatever!
Joe Brennan, a Patch blogger, shares some rules of grammar.
By Joe Brennan
Whoever? Whomever? .... Whatever!
As far as I'm concerned, "whom" is a word that was invented to make everyone sound like a butler. Calvin Trillin
The correct choice of the pronouns ”who” and ”whom” doesn't present much of a problem to most speakers and writers. "Who" is the subject of a sentence or clause (Who scored the goal?) and "whom" is the object of the sentence—either a direct object (He helped whom?) or indirect object (He gave it to whom?).
Some people use a simple rule: if you are able to substitute "he" for the pronoun, use "who" (Who/He scored the run?); If you are able to substitute "him" for the pronoun, use whom." (She gave gift to whom/him?)
"Whoever" and "whomever" follow the general rules for "who" and "whom" in most sentences:
—Example #1: Whoever (subject) hires him.
—Example #2: Whomever (object) he hires.
For certain, "whoever" and "whomever" present a tricky choice when used in noun clauses after a preposition, such as "to.” The following examples demonstrate that the correct choice of the pronouns "whoever" and "whomever" in a clause introduced by the preposition 'to" is determined by whether the pronoun serves as the subject or object of the clause.
—Example #3: You can give it to whoever (subject) deserves it.
—Example #4: You can give it to whomever(object) you choose.
The tricky part is both noun clauses containing the pronouns in examples #3 & #4 are indeed the objects of the preposition "to." Even though each clause itself is the object of the preposition "to," the correct pronoun (either ”whoever" or "whomever”) can be determined by whether the pronoun is being used as a subject or as an object in the clause.
If you are still uncertain which pronoun to use, you can restate the clause to determine who (whoever) is doing what to whom (whomever).
—Example #5: He decided to give the award to whomever (object of clause) the judges chose.
Time to quit, I've reached the "whatever" stage referred to in the title of this post. In addition, there should be a prize for any reader who got this far yet remained sane! The writer didn't.
Edited by Elaine Burns
Whoever? Whomever? .... Whatever!
As far as I'm concerned, "whom" is a word that was invented to make everyone sound like a butler. Calvin Trillin
The correct choice of the pronouns ”who” and ”whom” doesn't present much of a problem to most speakers and writers. "Who" is the subject of a sentence or clause (Who scored the goal?) and "whom" is the object of the sentence—either a direct object (He helped whom?) or indirect object (He gave it to whom?).
Some people use a simple rule: if you are able to substitute "he" for the pronoun, use "who" (Who/He scored the run?); If you are able to substitute "him" for the pronoun, use whom." (She gave gift to whom/him?)
"Whoever" and "whomever" follow the general rules for "who" and "whom" in most sentences:
—Example #1: Whoever (subject) hires him.
—Example #2: Whomever (object) he hires.
For certain, "whoever" and "whomever" present a tricky choice when used in noun clauses after a preposition, such as "to.” The following examples demonstrate that the correct choice of the pronouns "whoever" and "whomever" in a clause introduced by the preposition 'to" is determined by whether the pronoun serves as the subject or object of the clause.
—Example #3: You can give it to whoever (subject) deserves it.
—Example #4: You can give it to whomever(object) you choose.
The tricky part is both noun clauses containing the pronouns in examples #3 & #4 are indeed the objects of the preposition "to." Even though each clause itself is the object of the preposition "to," the correct pronoun (either ”whoever" or "whomever”) can be determined by whether the pronoun is being used as a subject or as an object in the clause.
If you are still uncertain which pronoun to use, you can restate the clause to determine who (whoever) is doing what to whom (whomever).
—Example #5: He decided to give the award to whomever (object of clause) the judges chose.
Time to quit, I've reached the "whatever" stage referred to in the title of this post. In addition, there should be a prize for any reader who got this far yet remained sane! The writer didn't.
Edited by Elaine Burns
This post is contributed by a community member. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Patch Media Corporation. Everyone is welcome to submit a post to Patch. If you'd like to post a blog, go here to get started.
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